Current Legal News

Stay current with legal news in Tennessee. This page features the latest news for and about the Tennessee legal community, either produced by the Tennessee Bar Association or collected from news sources.

Columbia lawyer Chaz Molder has announced his intentions to run for district attorney in the 22nd Judicial District, which includes Maury, Giles, Lawrence and Wayne counties. Molder also announced that J. Russell Parkes, a partner at his firm, will serve as campaign treasurer. Molder, a lifelong resident of Maury County, says he wants to make his community safer and make the DA’s office more efficient. Molder, who serves on the TBA YLD Board as Publications Committee chair, practices at Hardin, Parkes, Kelley, Carter & Bryant, where he focuses on criminal defense and general civil litigation.

The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission on Friday announced that Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jerry L. Smith has decided not to seek another term, leading the commission to drop plans to recommend he not be retained in next year’s election. For two other appellate judges facing possible negative recommendations, the commission said the judges could file written responses to its reports and appear at a Jan. 17, 2014, meeting where they would be allowed to speak about their performance. Appeals Court Judge Andy Bennett and Criminal Appeals Court Judge Camille R. McMullen appear on track to press forward with their campaigns, the Tennessean reports. Finally, the panel declined to hear from opponents of the retention election system, including Nashville attorney John Jay Hooker, who said afterward that he may sue the commission for not letting him speak.

Charles K. Grant took office as president of the Nashville Bar Association (NBA) during its annual meeting last week. A lawyer with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, Grant will be the first African American to serve in the role. Other meeting highlights included the election of President-elect Edward D. Lanquist Jr., First Vice President C. Dewey Branstetter Jr., Second Vice President John C. McLemore; Treasurer Nicole James; and Secretary Stacey Billingsley Cason. New board members named are Hon. Joe P. Binkley Jr., Irwin Kuhn, Claudia Levy, Sara Reynolds, Nathan Ridley and Bernadette Welch. Receiving awards were Byron Trauger, who was honored with the John C. Tune Public Service Award; Stephen A. Cobb, who received the Joseph G. Cummings Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award; Bart Pickett, who received the Nashville Bar Journal's Contributor of the Year Award; Matt Pulle, who received Article of the Year Award; Karl Warden, who received the CLE Excellence Award; and the law firm of Ortale, Kelley, Herbert & Crawford, which was given the Pro Bono Leadership Award. Finallly, before stepping down, outgoing President Thomas J. Sherrard III presented NBA YLD President Robb Bigelow and Federal Court Committee Chairs Jessie Zeigler and Ken Bryant with the 2013 President’s Award.

Cleveland lawyer Barrett Painter officially launched his campaign for Bradley County General Session Judge, Division 2, pledging to make the court more efficient with the highest level of honesty, integrity and fairness, the Cleveland Banner reports. The son of former Cleveland City attorney Harlen Painter, the younger Painter says he has had a front-row seat throughout life to see “the role and impact the judicial system has in the lives of the people.” Painter earned his law degree from Cumberland School of Law and began his career with his father at Bell & Associates. He later joined Logan-Thompson, where he served as county attorney for Bradley and Meigs counties. He currently practices with Chancey, Kanavos, Love & Painter.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Bobby Carter opened his re-election bid with bagpipes and pledges to be fair and impartial in his work. He also touted his efforts to reduce case backlogs in his court – moving from highest backlog to lowest, the Memphis Daily News reports. In other county races, Alfred L. Campbell picked up multiple qualifying petitions, including paperwork to run in the Democratic primary for probate court clerk, circuit court clerk and criminal court clerk.

A new poll shows U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, with a large lead over potential challenger Ricky Wilkins. The poll, conducted by the Memphis polling firm Yacoubian Research, showed the incumbent receiving 76 percent of support among likely Democratic primary voters to 11 percent for Wilkins, who is an attorney in private practice. Thirteen percent were undecided. The poll, involving some 204 respondents in the 9th Congressional District, also found that Cohen led Wilkins in all age, race, gender and geographic groupings, with his greatest strength among African-American males and white females. The Memphis Flyer has more on the poll results.

Franklin Police Chief David Rahinsky was unanimously elected chairman of the board for the 21st Judicial District Drug Task Force. The board consists of District Attorney General Kim Helper and the police chiefs and sheriffs from the four counties in the district: Williamson, Hickman, Perry and Lewis. The board meets quarterly and oversees the overall operation of the task force. The Tennessean has more on the story.

Franklin and Brentwood are poised to have their own lobbyists when the General Assembly convenes in January. The Tennessean reports that the cities are reviewing a $35,000 contract to hire lobbyists at Frost Brown Todd who would track legislation and meet with leaders about issues pertaining to both cities. Since being selected by the cities through a bidding process, Frost Brown Todd has formed CivicPoint, a lobbying, government relations and public affairs entity, and has hired former state legislator and Republican Caucus Chair Debra Maggart as its senior vice president.

Memphis lawyer and former TBA Board of Governors member Fred Moseley Acuff Jr. died Friday (Dec. 6) at the age of 67. Acuff earned his law degree from the University of Alabama in 1971 and began his legal career with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. In 1973, he moved to Memphis to begin private practice, and from 1979 to 2004, he was a partner with the law firm of Humphreys Dunlap Wellford Acuff & Stanton. After the firm merged with Farris Bobango, Acuff remained a partner and was working there at the time of his death. Acuff also served as chair of the TBA Litigation Section and was a member of the board of governors in the late 1990s. He also was active in the Memphis Bar Association, serving for seven years as board chair of Memphis Legal Placement. Visitation will be Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Canale Funeral Directors, 2700 Union Ave. Extended, Memphis 38112. Funeral services will be Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Grace St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1720 Peabody Ave., Memphis 38104. Memorials may be sent to the church or to Wesley Senior Ministries Foundation, 1615 Appling Rd., Cordova, TN 38016.

The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) was scheduled to consider a final recommendation today on whether Court of Appeals Judge Andy Bennett and Court of Criminal Appeals Judges Camille R. McMullen and Jerry L. Smith should be retained in the 2014 elections. At press time, the commission had concluded the public portion of its session without discussing the evaluations and was meeting in closed session.

Two members of the Tennessee congressional delegation are taking part in a court challenge to President Barack Obama’s health care reforms. Reps. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, and Phil Roe, R-Johnson City, are part of a friend-of-the-court brief that contends the various taxes in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are unconstitutional because they were added by the U.S. Senate. Under the Constitution, measures raising new revenues must originate in the House of Representatives. However, the district court that first considered the case dismissed their argument saying, “The Supreme Court has long held that … revenue bills are those that levy taxes, in the strict sense of the word, and are not bills for other purposes which may incidentally create revenue.” The Leaf Chronicle has more.

Many business groups praised the U.S. House of Representative’s passage of legislation aimed at lawsuits by so-called "patent trolls." But some fear the legitimate rights of small businesses could be trampled on as Congress rushes to protect companies from bad actors. In recent years, companies across the industry spectrum have found themselves settling patent claims simply because they cannot afford the litigation to fight them, says the sponsor of the legislation. But the National Small Business Association is concerned the bill could put undue burdens on individual inventors, technology startups and innovative small companies. Read more about the issue in the Memphis Business Journal.

Nashville-based U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger ruled this week that a copyright lawsuit against country superstars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood over their duet “Remind Me” could move forward. The ruling found that songwriter Amy Bowen, who performs as Lizza Connor, established a plausible claim of copyright infringement by Paisley and Underwood and songwriters John Kelley Lovelace and Charles DuBois. However, Trauger was clear that she was not ruling as a matter of law that the defendants infringed the copyright. Bowen claims she performed her song “Remind Me” at a songwriting workshop where Lovelace and DuBois were advisers three years before they penned a song with the same name. The defendants argue their song has a different melody, hook and lyrics. The Tennessean has more on the story.

Judge Rob Philyaw and the Hamilton County Juvenile Court recently recognized volunteers who serve as court appointed special advocates and Foster Care Review Board (FCRB) members as well as organizations that provide work and living skills for youth. Valerie While was named CASA of the Year; Nancy Pagano was named FCRB Member of the Year; and Goodwill Industries Inc., was named Community Worksite of the Year. See a photo of the award recipients on Chattanoogan.com.

Wilson County Assistant District Attorney Brian Fuller will be a candidate for 15th Judicial District Criminal Court judge, the Hartsville Vidette reports. The post -- which covers Trousdale, Macon, Smith, Jackson and Wilson counties -- is being vacated by Judge David Durham, who is retiring. Fuller has been an assistant district attorney for 17 years, first in the 28th Judicial District and then in the 15th Judicial District. He also has served as the criminal court docket manager for cases in Smith County from 2002 to 2005, and for cases in Wilson County from 2005 to the present. Fuller is a 1996 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Gary Wade visited Murfreesboro on Thursday and sat down for an interview with radio station WGNS. He talked about his background, the work of the Supreme Court and recent changes made to the way the state administers lethal injection. Listen to the interview on the station's website.

A decades-old lawsuit over conditions at a Memphis institution for people with intellectual disabilities has been dismissed after a federal judge found the state met court-ordered improvements, The Tennessean reports. The 1992 lawsuit over conditions at the Arlington Development Center -- originally filed by the Department of Justice and later joined by People First of Tennessee -- was brought after investigators found the facility failed to protect residents from abuse and neglect, provide adequate medical care and properly train staff. After the court found that the problems were so bad they violated the constitutional rights of the residents, the state entered into an agreement with more than 105 requirements and 103 deadlines. This week, U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla ruled the state had complied with all conditions and dismissed the suit.

Richard Hughes has announced he will run for a second term as 10th Judicial District public defender, Chattanoogan.com reports. Hughes, a Republican, has served in the position since 2005. Prior to being elected public defender, he served as an assistant public defender in the office for 15 years. The district covers Bradley, McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties. Hughes touts his efforts to beef up investigative functions of the office by hiring lawyers for those roles and for opening a second office in Madisonville. He also cites his involvement in the creation of a district-wide drug court, his work adding juvenile court dockets in two counties and his interest in creating a workhouse program in Bradley County as examples of his leadership.

Email communications -- even between attorney and client -- may be admissible. Find out how to protect electronic client communications in a Tennessee Bar Journal article by Nashville lawyers Kimberly Stagg and John E. Anderson Sr. Also in the December Journal, read about the Perry March murder trial in a column by the late Don Paine, who died in November. Paine wrote several of his "Paine on Procedure" columns ahead of time, so readers will enjoy his writing for several more months.

The Nashville law firm of Kinnard, Clayton & Beveridge is sponsoring the Snowflake 5K Tacky Sweater Run again this year to benefit Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee. The run/walk will be held Dec. 14 at 9 a.m. at Shelby Bottoms Park, 1900 Davidson St., Nashville 37206. Register here and use the promo code FRIEND to receive $5 off the registration fee.